TRACK SHAKE-UP RESULTS IN IMPROVEMENT

The University track team started the winter season with enthusiasm at a low ebb. People outside of College expected little of it; indeed the team had little confidence in itself. There were several contributing causes to this state of affairs. The coaching staff which has had charge of University track affairs for the past ten or twelve years came into power at a time when specialization in track events was just beginning. As a result, men who had previously had school experience had a slight advantage over men without such experience upon entering College. Unfortunately the coaching staff believed that school stars were necessary for a successful track team, and so paid little attention to the development of raw material. At about this time track men from Exeter, Andover and other schools which made a specialty of track began to go to Yale, Princeton, and other colleges.

Track Situation Was Critical

The result of all this was that track athletics at the University began to decline. The situation became critical just before the war, and the Graduate Advisory Committee was about to take some action when the war stopped all athletics. In 1919, when track was resumed, the matter again came up for discussion, and the Graduate Committee started an investigation. They found that the coaching staff was giving all its time to the few good track men in College, leaving the inexperienced men to their own devices.

When track started last fall, W. J. Bingham '16 was appointed supervisor, with instructions to straighten out affairs. He found that there was little enthusiasm for track in the University, and decided that he could work better as head coach than as supervisor. Accordingly, upon the resignation of Mr. Donovan on February 10, he was made head coach with full authority. Naturally the advent of Coach Bingham has not resulted in an immediate improvement, because of the short time he has had the job, but both undergraduate and graduate track enthusiasts are expecting a change for the better.

Winter Season Record Encouraging

In spite of the black outlook at the beginning of the season, the performance of the track team has been far from unsatisfactory. The results of the first meet participated in, the B. A. A. games, were on the surface disappointing, but an examination of the races show that things were not as bad as they seem. In both the two-mile and one-mile University relay races, the half-lap leads which the opposing teams had at the finish were due to one runner on each team, who lost distance through inability to take the corners properly. This fault was corrected, and was not in evidence in any of the later relay races. Furthermore, the Yale team this year is one of the fastest, if not the fastest, which has ever worn the Blue. In a race against Cornell at the N. Y. A. C. on March 5, it came within two seconds of equaling the world's record for the two-mile team race.

1924 Relay Team Improved

The Freshman relay team can be excused for its poor showing, when it is remembered that up to less than a month before the race not one of the men on the team had run a relay race. The 1924 quarter has shown much improvement since that time, as is shown by its defeating Andover on March 5. There is one point which might well be mentioned here. In every race which has been run by either the University or 1924 teams, ground has been lost due to the method of passing the baton. This was especially noticeable in the triangular meet with Dartmouth and Cornell, and in the Freshman meet with Andover. The couple of yards difference which would have been made by accurate passing of the baton would have been enough to affect the result of the race. In the Andover meet the passing was so awkward that the Freshmen, although they won, nearly fell over each other.

The resignation of "Pooch" Donovan on February 10 paved the way for a reorganizing of the track coaching system. Coach Eddie Farrell was given complete charge of the field event men, and given supervisory powers over the Freshman track team. Mr. Bingham, now made head coach, took charge of all the runners, and announced that he was to be assisted by various graduates in training the men. This change in coaches has already increased the enthusiasm of the runners and has shown its effects in the results of the triangular meet with Dartmouth and Cornell.

Fighting Spirit Shown

The University track team went into this meet a poor third in the estimation of track followers around Greater Boston, but the day after the meet one of the Boston papers said: "Harvard, poor down-trodden Harvard, showed a fighting spirit which was simply marvelous. Track at the University has evidently taken a turn for the better." The meet amply bore out Coach Bingham's statement that it was second and third place men who won a meet. Both Dartmouth and the University scored more firsts than Cornell, but the latter won the meet with her seconds. Several University runners whom no one expected to accomplish anything fought their way to places. A few more such and the standing of the teams at the end of the meet might have been quite different from what it was. It is Coach Bingham's task to develop these men, and he seems to be doing it.

Although the triangular meet was the climax of the winter season, it was by no means the end. On March 4 the team had a meet with Northeastern. Although everyone expected the Crimson runners to win, the joy of being ahead seemed to put new life in their blood, and they ran up a surprisingly large score, even without the services of Captain D. F. O'Connell and several other first string runners.

Freshman Team Mediocre

The Freshman winter season has not been very successful, but the team has shown some improvement in the last few weeks. It is well known that few school stars come to the University, and this is one reason for the weakness of the Freshmen. There is time enough to develop men to make a strong University team, but not enough time to develop a Freshman team. As a result the Freshmen rely almost entirely for their strength on runners who were developed in preparatory schools.

The 1924 relay team made a poor start at the B. A. A. games against Yale, and failed to show much improvement in the Worcester Academy meet, but it soon found itself and showed up well at the triangular meet, and the next week it defeated the Andover team. The rest of the Freshman track squad, with the exception of Captain Percy Jenkins and three or four others is rather weak, but is improving gradually, and by the time of the first spring meet should be up to standard.

Prospects Are Bright

The outlook for the spring season this year is more promising than it has been for some time past. E. O. Gourdin '21, R. D. Howard '23, Vinton Chapin '23 and C. H. Wansket '23 make a strong quartet of 100-yard sprinters, while Gourdin and Howard, with J. E. Kennedy '23, are the most likely men in the 220. There are no particular stars in the 440, but Kennedy, Richard Chute '22, Bayard Wharton '22, J. W. Quinn '23 and A. H. Gordon '23 are all dependable runners. In the half-mile there are Wharton, J. A. McCarthy '22, E. T. Doherty '22 and H. G. Davis '21. Captain O'Connell can be relied upon to win the mile, while A. H. Fox '21 and C. E. Reycroft '21 are both good runners, and should be able to place. F. G. Bemis '22, R. A. Lute '23 and H. M. Mahon '22 are the best prospects in the two-mile run. R. S. Whitney '22 showed in the meets this winter that he is one of the best hurdlers in collegiate track circles, and with R. W. Fitts '23 will be able to take care of this event.

In the field events, Gourdin and R. W. Harwood ocC. can be depended upon for first places in the broad-jump and pole-vault respectively. In the other events the prospects are not so bright. W. F. Goodell '21 is the best high jumper, and he is improving rapidly. J. M. Telbert '22 and J. F. Brown '22 are the best shot-putters, although neither of them have passed the forty-feet mark. Brown is also a good hammer thrower, and with G. G. Mouks '21 will represent the University in the event.